Not In Receipt Of Payments, Got Called Anyways. Is This A Means Test?

IT Loser

Got a letter in the post this morning: (July 8th}


"Please attend for an interview at the Social Welfare Office, at Interview Room 3 On Thursday July 9th at 2:30pm, In connection with Jobseekers Allowance Claim."

"It is important you bring the following documents with you.......etc etc etc."

Now, apart from the fact that they gave me one days notice {I have my documents, but sure I could have had anything planned for tomorrow}, they also made a request for, as is the standard, "Self Employment Receipts, Accounts etc"

Now I never kept accounts when I did nixers for people, and I never issued receipts. As it happens, I have not had that sort of work since before Christmas.

Is the purpose of this "Interview" to do a means test and a means test alone? I thought they called out to your house? Is it out of the norm that I am being called into their office???

Is it simply more convenient for them to do the means test this way.

They made no request {it is, or appears to be, a standard form letter} for proof that I have been looking for work, of which I have no shortage, including email rejections, copies of applications, etc.

All of the letter pertains to statements from financial institutions, proof of address, proof of identity.

The only other problem I may have is that I have been trying to get my address changed on one of my bank statements for some time. Yesterday they sent me a letter saying they couldnt do it as of yet as I had not signed a letter they sent me. I signed that letter and sent it back, basically my main bank account statement could have an old address on it. Would this be fatal to my claim??

My secondary bank account and my credit union statement all have the correct addresses.

Thanks.

IT Loser

40 views and not a word.

The reason I didnt ask the office is because they said "call us between the hours of 10am-12pm"

Letter arrived here at like 11:47am or something.

Is there a reason why nobody wants to answer this???

cee_jay

It sounds like a standard means assessment interview, they don't always call out to your house. In fact, I think they are moving more towards desk based interviews at the moment to save time and to see more people.
The bank statement in the wrong address won't be fatal to your claim, just bring them with you and explain why the address is wrong.

IT Loser

cAr0l wrote: »

It sounds like a standard means assessment interview, they don't always call out to your house. In fact, I think they are moving more towards desk based interviews at the moment to save time and to see more people.
The bank statement in the wrong address won't be fatal to your claim, just bring them with you and explain why the address is wrong.

Thanks for that. I rang their phone and eventually someone answered and basically said the same thing.

They even asked if it was OK for me to come in tomorrow, as requested.

I said if they were good enough to have me, then I would make the trip, seeing as they were trying to speed things up I would not be one to slow them down.

I asked should I bring documents of proof I have been looking for work and they said if I had that, it would be great.

So finally something akin to a positive development.

Sephiroth_dude

Yup sounds like a means test alright,I got the same letter when I was called for my,I recieved on the a thursday and had it the following monday and was running around trying to get the documentation they wanted for them.

IT Loser

Sephiroth_dude wrote: »

Yup sounds like a means test alright,I got the same letter when I was called for my,I recieved on the a thursday and had it the following monday and was running around trying to get the documentation they wanted for them.

Thanks for your answer!

How quickly then before you received your money, or have you received yet at all??

Basically all I will have for them is two bank statements, one from each account, a credit union account statement, and a list of job applications/refusals.

Did they grill you much when you went in? Did it take long, or was it short n' sweet?

Sephiroth_dude

IT Loser wrote: »

Thanks for your answer!

How quickly then before you received your money, or have you received yet at all??

Basically all I will have for them is two bank statements, one from each account, a credit union account statement, and a list of job applications/refusals.

Did they grill you much when you went in? Did it take long, or was it short n' sweet?

Well I was jobseekers benefit at the time of the meeting,I had my interview in feb and my credits ran out in april and then I was waiting a month for JSA money to come through.


Basically she has a booklet and she asked me questions from that and was ticking and writing as I answered,It was question about my mother and father about there income and I needed to show them copies of my bank statment and credit union statment.The documention you have should suffice.

draward

something like that happend to me too was told "sure you werent going to work"

IT Loser

draward wrote: »

something like that happend to me too was told "sure you werent going to work"

I was working with my father, down the back of our gardern, building a shed. The man is in his 60's and I felt obliged to help. We went out and didnt come back in till lunchtime and then we saw the post. I tried ringing them but the usual, phone rang out. My da does not pay me, how could I ask for it anyways off him?? I sometimes wonder if these office people have a grasp of daily life for folk.

IT Loser

Went in today, had brand new statements for my bank account and credit union, and a sort-of-recent statement for my secondary bank account, which has a balance of €0.04 anyways.

Spoke to the man in the interview room, he asked what age my parents were and what age my sister {who also lives at home} was.

Why would he ask those questions? I am over 25.

He did not ask for parents financial information BUT he DID ask what they worked at, and on what basis {full, casual, temp, seasonal etc}

I answered this question.

He looked at all the bank and credit union statements and took notes, and asked had I any land, property, stocks shares etc, I answered NO to all of these, which is correct.

He asked me what work had I been up to- I explained I always tried to do nixers {construction, wash windows etc} whenever I could find the work and that I also had a barrister friend who used to get me to check things up for him and then throw me a share of his brief. I explained to him that this work had largely dried up since people started to tighten their belts and since the conveyancing work dried up for the legal sector, that my little numbers for my legal friend had also dried up.

He asked me on what basis would I be paid and I explained it was cash in hand, but that it was very irregular albeit that it paid well. He seemed OK with this, and I made sure to impress on him that I had no intention of claiming and working.

He asked me had I any income, I said no. He asked about lodgements visible on the bank statement and I explained {politely} that if he examined the credit union and bank statements, he would see that it was just a question of taking money from the Credit Union account and transferring it to the bank to meet my direct debits. Same money, in effect, that was always there, being slowly whittled aways, bit by bit.

I had proof of address etc.

He then said he was going to pass all the information away to somebody else for them to make a decision. He then added that there was a considerable backlog, and that the earliest I would hear would be 2 weeks.:eek::(

What decision is there left to be made?? And why more time again??

When I initially applied, they said 4-6 weeks before I do the means test, and that someone would be calling in to see me. 6 weeks came and went and eventually, after 9 weeks, they called me in to see them And now there is further examination of my bona fides and further delay.

Best of all- the man refused to take any of the huge wad of job applications/refusal letters I had been lugging around with me. I mean, whats the point of the means test if you dont show them you have been looking for work?? If they read some of the letters they would see how I have been seeking employment.

And, when a man with parents in their 60's, whom he lives with, shows you a bank statement that says €13-00 and another one that says €0.04 and a CU statement that says €19.63......how much more do they need to see???

One useful bit of info that did come out of it was who to see and when to see them for the SWA. Apparently, my CWO is available to my village for 2 hours, one on Wednesday and one on Friday, for the entire week. Snip that if you will.

Sephiroth_dude

At least you have it out of the way now anyway.

IT Loser

Sephiroth_dude wrote: »

At least you have it out of the way now anyway.

Hey, thats one way of looking at things, I guess.

By the way, the place was....DESERTED.

I mean, it looked like a ghost town.

And they were closing at 15:30pm

I thought they were "swamped" and "overcome with work"

Hatches were all locked down bar 1. Reception was unmanned.

The handwriting on my claim was so poor I did not know if it said 2 00 or 2 30
for the appointment, so I sat in from 2pm to see what I could see.

I am telling you, you could have started carrying chairs and computers out and nobody would have known any different, it was that deserted.

jenzz

IT Loser wrote: »

Hey, thats one way of looking at things, I guess.

By the way, the place was....DESERTED.

I mean, it looked like a ghost town.

And they were closing at 15:30pm

I thought they were "swamped" and "overcome with work"

Hatches were all locked down bar 1. Reception was unmanned.

The handwriting on my claim was so poor I did not know if it said 2 00 or 2 30
for the appointment, so I sat in from 2pm to see what I could see.

I am telling you, you could have started carrying chairs and computers out and nobody would have known any different, it was that deserted.

Thats mad - all ive heard is horror stories about that place lately. I do think its wrong though to question you about your folks. lets just say for arguement sakes I had to move back in with my parents tomorrow. They may have a few bob ( couple hundred quid if even) in the bank but I would be a burden to them ie I would be draining their resources so I hardly think it should matter if you living with folks & sis what they have.

best of luck with it & hopefully you get resolved soon

IT Loser

jenzz wrote: »

Thats mad - all ive heard is horror stories about that place lately. I do think its wrong though to question you about your folks. lets just say for arguement sakes I had to move back in with my parents tomorrow. They may have a few bob ( couple hundred quid if even) in the bank but I would be a burden to them ie I would be draining their resources so I hardly think it should matter if you living with folks & sis what they have.

best of luck with it & hopefully you get resolved soon

Yeah, thanks.:D

What sort of horror stories did you hear?

I thought it was odd they wanted to know what my parents did for their living. The law is very clear: The Privilege and Benefit rule does not apply where the applicant is over the age of 25.

jenzz

IT Loser wrote: »

Yeah, thanks.:D

What sort of horror stories did you hear?

I thought it was odd they wanted to know what my parents did for their living. The law is very clear: The Privilege and Benefit rule does not apply where the applicant is over the age of 25.

queuing, interrogation & usual state-form - everyone with the same appointment time !
I remember years ago my sister decided she was going on the county council housing list. My father decided we were basicly! He decided for us we were buying sites & he was builiding us houses. It never materialised ( Thank God) But in order to apply for a site you had to be on the housing list. Which meant a means test ! As we were both living at home we got 2 visits on 2 seperate days to means test us. Parents were literally interrogated both times. Especially as dad was self employed. A bit unfair on the folks to be honest.


But if you said you dad was a farmer or if you said your dad was a big barrister would that or should that make their decision change for you ? It shouldnt in my opinion so why should they ask what your folks do ??? I dont know really !

yabadabado

you were talking to an inspector ,they will write up there report and it will be a deciding officer who will make the decision on the amount of payment you will recieve.

IT Loser

yabadabado wrote: »

you were talking to an inspector ,they will write up there report and it will be a deciding officer who will make the decision on the amount of payment you will recieve.

Hi, thanks for your input.

The inspector kind of alluded to that.

I told him I was in the business of dealing with legal eagle buddies who sometimes tossed me a bone. I asked him, out of curiosity, what was the best course of action if I got a weeks work worth say, €300, how would they work it out......

.....he answered by saying "well, now, if you were on the full amount, that would be €204 and thats less than €300 etc etc etc"

My question: why would I not be on the full amount??? I am over 25, therefore the parents do not come into it. I told him I am single, therefore NO SPOUSE who needs her income examined.

There is surely no room for them to be deciding what I should be getting.

Once they dont have any figures from a spouse or parents to work with, thats that.

The thing, again, that got me: never looked at the job applications. Shocked by that one.

I assume I am going to get something out of them, right??

snubbleste

The interview was a means test, not to look at your efforts to get work, right?
Plus, I have a sneaky suspicion that inspector recognised you from boards and gave you a bit of a hard time

yabadabado

IT Loser wrote: »

Hi, thanks for your input.

The inspector kind of alluded to that.

I told him I was in the business of dealing with legal eagle buddies who sometimes tossed me a bone. I asked him, out of curiosity, what was the best course of action if I got a weeks work worth say, €300, how would they work it out......

.....he answered by saying "well, now, if you were on the full amount, that would be €204 and thats less than €300 etc etc etc"

My question: why would I not be on the full amount??? I am over 25, therefore the parents do not come into it. I told him I am single, therefore NO SPOUSE who needs her income examined.

There is surely no room for them to be deciding what I should be getting.

Once they dont have any figures from a spouse or parents to work with, thats that.

The thing, again, that got me: never looked at the job applications. Shocked by that one.

I assume I am going to get something out of them, right??

he wouldnt tell you what amount you would recieve,its not his decision,they only investigate the claims and write up a report.he could be opening a can of worms if he gave you a figure and it turned out you recieved less.i reckon you should have your decision within the week

IT Loser

Yabadabado: the thing is, and I have studied the fine print- I should be getting nothing or I should be getting the whole lot.

I dont know why he would suggest that there were varying grades of pay that I might fall into.

Because there aren't.

There are only 2 categories I can fall into {a} ZERO or {b} Eur. 204.

I dont understand how you can pass the means test {as I must have, I have no means} and then get your money, as one of the other key requirements {along with habitual residence} is that you must be looking for work.

How can they know that at all??

Anyways, cheers, sorry to rabbit on about it- I will let everyone know how I got on, thanks for all your help, ta.

yabadabado

IT Loser wrote: »

Yabadabado: the thing is, and I have studied the fine print- I should be getting nothing or I should be getting the whole lot.

I dont know why he would suggest that there were varying grades of pay that I might fall into.

Because there aren't.

There are only 2 categories I can fall into {a} ZERO or {b} Eur. 204.

I dont understand how you can pass the means test {as I must have, I have no means} and then get your money, as one of the other key requirements {along with habitual residence} is that you must be looking for work.

How can they know that at all??

Anyways, cheers, sorry to rabbit on about it- I will let everyone know how I got on, thanks for all your help, ta.

thats is ur circumstances ,there are varying degrees of pay ,he would be talking in general imo.sure let us know how you get on.going on what you are saying u will get the full amount.

IT Loser

yabadabado wrote: »

thats is ur circumstances ,there are varying degrees of pay ,he would be talking in general imo.sure let us know how you get on.going on what you are saying u will get the full amount.

Ah, I see your point now.....I thought when he was talking to me he would only refer to my circumstances.

Thanks for your encouragement....I will be sure and let you know how I get on.

Ta.